Clark: September 19, 1806
The party set out shortly after daybreak and made rapid progress downriver, stopping only once to gather pawpaws. Eager to reach the Illinois settlements, they pressed on without hunting, planning to cover the 140 miles to the first settlements in two days—reaching the Osage River the first day and the small French village of Charriton the next. They arrived at the mouth of the Osage River at dark, having traveled 72 miles, and camped on their old June 1804 site. Three men suffered painful, inflamed sore eyes, which Clark suspected was caused by sun reflecting off the water.
Friday 19th of Sept. 1806 Set out this morning a little after day &
proceeded on very well the men ply their oares & we decended with
great velocity, only Came too once for the purpose of gathering pappows,
our anxiety as also the wish of the party to proceed on as expeditiously
as possible to the Illinois enduce us to continue on without halting to
hunt. we Calculate on ariveing at the first Settlements on tomorrow
evening which is 140 miles, and objecet of our party is to divide the
distance into two days, this day to the Osarge River, and tomorrow to the
Charriton a Small french Villagewe arived at the Enterance of Osage
River at dark and encamped on the Spot we had encamped on the 1st & 2d
of June 1804 haveing Came 72 miles. a very singular disorder is takeing
place amongst our party that of the Sore eyes. three of the party have
their eyes inflamed and Sweled in Such a manner as to render them
extreamly painfull, particularly when exposed to the light, the eye ball
is much inflaimed and the lid appears burnt with the Sun, the cause of
this complaint of the eye I can’t account for. from it’s Sudden appearance
I am willing to believe it may be owing to the reflection of the Sun on
the water
Read this entry in modern English AI-translated
Friday, 19th of September 1806. We set out this morning a little after daybreak and proceeded on very well. The men plied their oars and we descended with great velocity, only coming to shore once for the purpose of gathering pawpaws. Our anxiety, as also the wish of the party to proceed on as expeditiously as possible to the Illinois, induced us to continue on without halting to hunt. We calculate on arriving at the first settlements tomorrow evening, which is 140 miles away, and the object of our party is to divide the distance into two days: this day to the Osage River, and tomorrow to the Chariton, a small French village. We arrived at the entrance of the Osage River at dark and camped on the spot we had camped on the 1st and 2nd of June 1804, having come 72 miles.
A very singular disorder is taking place amongst our party—that of sore eyes. Three of the party have their eyes inflamed and swelled in such a manner as to render them extremely painful, particularly when exposed to the light. The eyeball is much inflamed and the lid appears burnt with the sun. The cause of this complaint of the eye I can't account for. From its sudden appearance, I am willing to believe it may be owing to the reflection of the sun on the water.
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